Santa Cruz County Short-Term Rentals: Permit Requirements Rules (2026)

Santa Cruz County's unincorporated short-term rental framework is built around two distinct permit pathways under County Code Title 13 (Zoning):

(1) VACATION RENTALS (non-hosted) — County Code Section 13.10.694. A 'Vacation Rental' is the rental of an entire dwelling unit for 30 days or less where the owner does NOT reside on-site during the guest's stay. Vacation rentals are permitted only in single-family homes, duplexes, and triplexes. They require a Vacation Rental Permit from the Planning Division. Outside the three Designated Areas, the countywide cap was set at 270 non-hosted permits under the 2025 update (263 issued + 7 pending as of March 2025). Inside Designated Areas, vacation rentals are capped by neighborhood: in Live Oak, no more than 262 vacation rental permits; in Seacliff/Aptos/La Selva Beach, no more than 241 vacation rental permits; the Davenport/Swanton Designated Area has a separate cap historically calculated at 10% of total parcels with residential uses. All three Designated Areas are at capacity with waitlists.

(2) HOSTED RENTALS — County Code Section 13.10.690 (adopted by Ordinance 5266 on June 6, 2018). A 'Hosted Rental' is the rental of one or two rooms inside a legal dwelling unit while the owner remains a permanent resident. Hosted rentals are allowed in any legal dwelling unit type (single-family, duplex, triplex, condominium, ADU/JADU where the primary unit is owner-occupied). The countywide cap on hosted rental permits is 250. Inside Designated Areas, hosted permits are further capped: 18 hosted permits in Live Oak and 45 hosted permits in the Aptos/Seacliff/La Selva Beach area.

DESIGNATED AREAS. Three coastal/beach neighborhoods are subject to special caps and spacing limits: (a) Live Oak Designated Area (the unincorporated coastal neighborhood between the City of Santa Cruz and Capitola, including Pleasure Point, 26th–41st Avenues, Twin Lakes, and East Cliff Drive); (b) Seacliff/Aptos/La Selva Beach Designated Area (Rio Del Mar, Seacliff Beach, Aptos Village periphery, La Selva Beach); and (c) Davenport/Swanton Designated Area (north coast). Specific streets in popular tourist sub-areas of Aptos, Seacliff, and La Selva Beach are exempted from the vacation rental cap. The City of Capitola is incorporated and not part of the County's Designated Area program; Capitola administers its own STR rules.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS (Vacation Rental Permit, PLG150 form): completed Vacation Rental Application Form and Letter of Rental Intent (LORI); Assessor's Parcel Number (APN); proof of single-family/duplex/triplex zoning; site plan showing on-site parking (one off-street space per bedroom is the County standard); designation of a 24-hour Local Contact Person able to respond to complaints in person within one hour; signed acknowledgment of the County's Good Neighbor brochure; Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) Certificate number from the Tax Collector; and the application fee. Hosted Rental applications additionally require evidence of owner permanent residency (driver's license, utility bills, voter registration matching the parcel address).

OCCUPANCY AND OPERATIONAL STANDARDS: Maximum overnight occupancy is generally calculated at two persons per bedroom plus two additional, with a typical hard cap of 10 overnight guests for vacation rentals; daytime guest counts may be limited under permit conditions. Amplified outdoor sound is restricted between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. consistent with County noise standards. On-site parking must accommodate all guest vehicles; on-street parking by guests is restricted in the Designated Areas. Outdoor events, weddings, and commercial gatherings at vacation rentals are prohibited unless separately permitted. Recreational vehicles, tents, and trailers may not be used as the rental sleeping unit.

POSTING AND ADVERTISING: The 2025 update requires every short-term rental property to display a sign with the County's vacation rental complaint hotline number (the hotline is funded by an increase in STR application fees and budgeted at approximately $13,000 per year). Advertising on platforms (Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com) must include the County-issued Vacation Rental Permit number. Hosting platforms are required to ensure that only permitted properties are listed; upon notice from the County of a non-compliant listing, the platform must remove it within 10 days.

RENEWAL AND TRANSFER: Vacation Rental and Hosted Rental Permits are renewable annually upon payment of the renewal fee, demonstration of continued TOT compliance, and absence of substantiated violations. Permits are nontransferable and do not run with the land — sale of the property requires a new application by the new owner, and Designated Area permits are subject to the active waitlist. Hosted Rental Permits terminate automatically if the owner ceases permanent residency at the parcel.

TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX (Chapter 4.24, Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax): Operators must obtain a TOT Certificate from the County Tax Collector before renting. The unincorporated-area TOT rate for vacation rentals is 14%, and the rate for hotels/motels is 12%. Returns are filed quarterly through the County's online portal (businesstax.santacruzcounty.us). The County also collects a Tourism Marketing District (TMD) assessment in addition to TOT. Airbnb collects and remits Santa Cruz County TOT on behalf of hosts under a voluntary collection agreement; VRBO and direct bookings require host self-remittance.

SEPARATE CITY REGIMES (for reference; this entry covers unincorporated Santa Cruz County only):

• CITY OF SANTA CRUZ — Chapter 24.12, Part 18 of the City's Municipal Code. The City distinguishes Hosted STRs (owner lives in the home more than 6 months per year; owner need not be present during the guest stay) from Non-Hosted STRs. The City has capped Hosted STR permits at 250 (issued first-come, first-served, currently no waitlist) and is NOT issuing new Non-Hosted permits — only legally established existing Non-Hosted STRs may continue. All STR operators in the City must obtain (1) an STR Permit from the Planning and Community Development Department, (2) a Transient Occupancy Tax Certificate, and (3) a City Business License. The City TOT rate for residential properties (STRs) is 14% effective January 1, 2023 (raised from 11%); the commercial hotel TOT rate is 12%. Applications and TOT remittance are processed at tot.cityofsantacruz.com.

• CITY OF CAPITOLA — administers its own STR ordinance separately; cap and rules differ.

• CITY OF SCOTTS VALLEY and CITY OF WATSONVILLE — separate municipal regulations apply.

STATE-LEVEL CONTEXT: California has no statewide STR registration system. The California Coastal Commission (under the California Coastal Act, Public Resources Code Division 20) reviews local STR ordinances within the Coastal Zone for consistency with public access and visitor accommodation policies; Santa Cruz County's Designated Area framework was developed in coordination with the Coastal Commission. SB 60 (Glazer, 2021) increased state-permitted civil penalties for egregious STR noise violations. Santa Cruz County and its incorporated cities retain full local authority to license, cap, and zone STRs.